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Published: June 17th 2017
01 Floating
A pod of hippos in the waterhole.Geo: -24.9854, 31.6018
On this morning's game drive we saw lots of hippos floating about in a waterhole and a Spotted Hyena walking along the road towards us and then went off into the bush. We then came across a breeding herd of elephants that were busy eating just off both sides of the road. This was a really nice sighting, was also a bit intimidating as the banks on the side of the road were quite high and we were looking up at these huge creatures.
We then came to a bridge that was occupied by a troop of baboons that were sitting about. Further along we stopped at a hide which overlooked a pond. There was plenty of birdlife here and a few crocodiles, so we stayed for a while. A little while later we also spotted a hippo hiding at the edge of the pond and some terrapins. In the end we had spent about an hour here. It was a really nice place to sit and observe the birds and animals.
From the hide we drove back to camp, packed up our tent and had something to eat. Then we were back in the car and driving towards
03 Scenery
Some of the scenery we saw from the road. our next campsite at Skukuza.
Along the way we stopped at a dam and saw a pod of floating hippos. We then had a really exciting sighting – wild dogs. They are an endangered species and live in packs. Their coat is brown, white and black and they have large ears. First we saw one that was sort of hidden behind a tree and in long grass. Then we looked around and saw more of them. They were now becoming active and running down the road. We followed them. It was so special to see wild dogs and this was our first sighting of them on this trip. The dogs stopped at a puddle, just off the road. A couple of them got into the puddle and lay down, the rest of the pack lay under the shade and rested.
We continued driving towards Skukuza. Along the way we also saw elephants and giraffe. It was about mid afternoon we when arrived. We relaxed at the cafe with a cold drink and an ice-cream. There was a rondavel that no-one was sitting under because it was full of bats! There were about 100 bats hanging from the thatch and
04 Kingfisher
A River Kingfisher, seen near a river! about only a metre away from our heads. They were all awake and watching us being in awe of them. Some of them were holding onto their young ones. This was another species to tick off our list. The bats were a light brown colour and very cute to watch. They were not very active and just hanging about.
It was now time for us to set up our tent for the next few nights. Ten minutes later we were all set up. For the next hour we had a swim and snooze. Just before we were about to leave for our afternoon game drive, we spotted a fat Water Monitor walking through the camp ground. We could not help it – we had to follow it and take a few photos. Its stomach was so full that it dragged along the ground.
Finally at a quarter to five we left for our afternoon game drive. First of all we stopped at a dam. All that was visible was a hippo and her young one. Later on we also noticed quite a few more hippos in the distance on the other side of the dam.
Back on the main road
05 Bridge
The bridge we are just about to cross over. we came to a sudden stop. Just off the road were two adult Spotted Hyenas, one was lying down and the other standing. Usually when I see hyenas they are running off, these ones didn't seem to be going anywhere. We parked the car close to them and observed their behaviour. The one lying down looked pregnant or had recently given birth. Then out of the drainage pipe that went under the road, appeared two baby hyenas. They seemed very young and had short, dark brown fur. The two pups went straight to their mother who nuzzled and licked them. Now another adult hyena arrived out of the bush and two more pups came out from the drainage pipe. The pups and the mother were greeting this hyena that had just arrived. There was a lot of sniffing going on.
Just when we thought that the family had all been reunited – two more hyenas came out of the drainage pipe. These two hyenas must be from last year's litter. They were much bigger and their fur matured as their spots were now visible. The hyenas started the sniffing ritual over again. The younger ones especially were quite active. In
06 Hyena
A Spotted Hyena that ran past us on the road. the end there were five adults, two young ones and four younger ones.
We had to rush back to the camp gate as it was very close to closing time. Our plan was to come back here first thing on our morning drive and hopefully see more of the hyenas.
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